


The Sound Of Silence

by Osric_Ciao



Category: Supernatural
Genre: AU, Anxiety, Bi Dean, Castiel Anxiety, Demi Castiel, Demisexual Castiel, M/M, Neighbour AU, Neighbours, Semi Castiel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-04
Updated: 2014-12-22
Packaged: 2018-02-28 04:50:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2719337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Osric_Ciao/pseuds/Osric_Ciao
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Castiel Novak is a bit of a loner. He has anxiety. He doesn't understand people all that well. Dean Winchester is his polar opposite. When they become neighbours, the pair of them get more than they ever bargained for.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Castiel froze as his fingers closed around the door handle.  _Wait. Did you turn off the hob after breakfast this morning?_  He was sure he remembered doing so, but there was a niggling at the back of his mind that told him otherwise. Sighing and cursing himself, he let go of the handle, and crossed his appartment back to the kitchen. The dial was set into the 'off' position, but he twisted it slightly, just to be on the safe side.

"The hob is definitely off." He murmured out loud to himself. It seemed like a silly thing to do, even to himself, but the verbal reassurance was often enough to settle his mind, at least a little. Sufficiently satisfied now, he made his way back to the door and let himself out.

Castiel turned the key and locked the door, then pushed the door handle. It refused to budge, assuring him that it was locked. He put away his key, tried the door once more, then turned on his heel to leave. There were 16 steps to the end of the hall, and 24 steps in each of the two flights of stairs down to the ground floor. Castiel counted them as he made his way down the hall, his eyes glued to the ground as he went.  _Seven, eight, nine_. He stopped dead in his tracks, and felt a heavy weight crash into his back.

Castiel span around to see a man a little taller than himself staring down at him with one eyebrow cocked.

"Dude, why are you just suddenly stopping in the middle of the corridor like that?" His voice wasn't angry though. If anything, he seemed a little amused.

Castiel took a step back to steady himself from the collision. He felt his face flush lightly; he wasn't comfortable talking to strangers. Or anyone, for that matter. "I just remembered I didn't lock my door." He muttered, trying to edge past the man.

He shifted out of Castiel's way, but his expression changed to one of suspision. "You just locked it. I saw you lock it."

Castiel's blush deepened. What was wrong with him? Why did he have to be so awkward? "Well, I... Uh... Left my... something." He babbled. A slight grin pulled at the other man's lips as he raised his eyebrows, but he didn't make a big deal of it. He nodded slowly. "Sure." He said, and without another word, he turned and after a couple more steps, disappeared into the stairwell.

Castiel held his breath until he could no longer hear the heavy footsteps hitting the stairs. He let out one long breath, shaking his head at himself, and made his way back to the door, tugging at the handle once more.

"It's _locked_." He said to himself through gritted teeth.

\---

Castiel couldn't concentrate at work that morning. He had an awful habbit of dwelling on the tiniest of details, and the encounter from that morning was now replaying itself over and over in his head. Why did he have to act like that? Why couldn't he have just been normal, for once? Why did he have to get so flustered about everything? He'd actually  _blushed_ , for god's sake.

Matters weren't improved when he returned to his block of flats later that day to find the man from that morning arriving back at almost exactly the same time. When he saw Cas, he grinned and pulled open the door.

"After you." Castiel resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he went through the door and muttered out a "Thank you." He hoped in vain that this guy would leave him in peace.

"Hey. I'm Dean Winchester." The man said as they began to ascend the staircase. Castiel glanced over his shoulder at him.

"Castiel Novak."

"Great. See, my old place was having a few financial difficulties, so a bunch of us were going to be laid-off. Luckily though, I managed to find a job up here before it got to that. Well, I guess this means I'm your new neighbour then, eh?"

Castiel smiled weakly, but didn't say anything.

"So tell me Castiel Novak. Where do  _you_  work?" Dean had a friendly enough demeanour, yet Castiel was still feeling uncomfortable.

"I work in a bookshop, just a little way out of the town centre."

"Oh, cool!" Exclaimed Dean. He immediately withdrew his excitement. "Well, I mean, I don't ever read, so I don't care too much about books, but I'm guessing you do?" Castiel nodded. Dean waited for him to elaborate but he never did.

They had reached the second floor and were unlocking their doors by the time either of them spoke again.

"You're not much of a talker, are you?" Asked Dean. Castiel didn't know what Dean expected him to say, so he simply shook his head. Dean smiled.

"That's okay. I get it. All I'm saying though is that I'm not so quiet, and I'm not so great with other people who aren't, so I'm going to try my hardest to get you talking, right? Anyway, nice to meet you, Mr Novak."

Castiel blinked at Dean without saying a word. Dean winked and extended a hand. Tentatively, Castiel placed his own hand in Dean's, and gave it a quick shake before dropping his hand back down to his side. With one last cheeky grin in Castiel's direction, Dean entered his own appartment, leaving Castiel alone in the corridor, feeling slightly dazed.

\---

For the next few days, Castiel managed to evade Dean Winchester. He wasn't entirely sure what it was about his new neighbour that made him even more uncomfortable than he usually would be. All he knew was that he wanted to avoid thinking about him at all costs.

Dean didn't make this easy on Castiel. He hadn't been lying when he'd told him he wasn't quiet; Castiel could hear him through the thin wall between their appartments, banging and clanging at all hours of the day and night, waking him up with loud music every morning. It was almost as if he wanted his presence to be known at all times.

Castiel, shy as he was, never left his own appartment unless absolutely necessary, which generally meant he only travelled to work and back, and whenever he needed to visit the store. Dean, however, was constantly coming and going. Castiel could hear his door slamming closed several times every day. He couldn't remember where Dean had said he worked and made a mental note to figure it out, should they ever speak again.

Over the next week or so, they passed in the corridor a few times, although Castiel avoided all eye contact in hopes of preventing Dean from drawing him into a conversation. Besides, he was constantly wearing earphones, which to most people was a clear 'do not disturb sign'. All was going to plan. That is, until the day Castiel's battery died and he had to take his earphones out.

As per his always imaculate timing, he reached the door just as Dean pulled it open from the inside. Once again, Dean stood aside to let Castiel through, but feeling this was patronising, Castiel stood his ground until Dean gave up, smirking as always, and passed through the open door. Dean had only taken one step further when he suddenly stopped and turned back to Castiel.

"Hey, man." His voice was just soft enough to make Castiel turn towards him. For the first time, he was able to really look at Dean. The brightness from being outside displayed a light peppering of freckles across his nose and cheeks, and as the light shone through his hair it highlighted some of the honey coloured strands against the darker blond parts. His full lips were twisted slightly to the side so Castiel could see how awkward he was feeling. When he met his eyes, Castiel almost gasped out loud at their beauty.

"So, I just wanted to apologise to you." Dean began. Castiel started. What is he talking about? He looked at Dean stupidly for a moment before he continued.

"Oh, well the guy who lives on the floor above us came banging on my door earlier and yelled at me to keep my music down." Castiel stared at him.  _He_  hadn't said anything, why was he apologising to him?

"And I just thought, oh, this must be even louder for Cas if he's only next door." Castiel nodded his head slowly, still uncomprehending. "Was it loud?"

"OH! Right." He snapped himself awake. "Yeah. No. It doesn't bother me." WHAT? Hadn't Castiel just been thinking about how loud he'd been? Dean's face brightend.

"Oh, good! I mean, I'll still have to keep it down for that other guy, but as long as it hasn't been bothering you." He smiled, and Castiel couldn't help but grin back at him. "Anyway, I have to get off now, but we'll talk later, yeah?" And without giving Castiel a chance to answer, Dean turned and left.

Castiel had an odd feeling in his stomach as he made his way up to his apartment. The reasons behind him wanting to keep his distance from Dean were slowly dawning on him as it all began to make sense.

It had been years since he'd had these feelings for anyone. Liking people in this way had never really worked out well for Castiel, but that was usually okay becuase it didn't happen very often. Besides, it had only ever been with people who he could easily keep his distance from. The only thing to seperate himself from Dean was a thin wall.

Castiel was going to have to be even more careful now. It just wouldn't do to get a crush on his neighbour.


	2. Chapter 2

The word kept churning over and over in his head. No matter how hard Castiel tried, he couldn't stop his brain from chanting it at him.

_Dean. Dean. Dean_

He shook his head to try to free it up, but of course nothing happened. He wasn't entirely sure what had changed to make him feel like this, but once he had begun to, there seemed to be no shifting it. This feeling was alien to Castiel and he didn't know how to respond to it.

There was a part of him that wanted to stay well away from Dean, to do everything in his power to avoid seeing him again. And yet, there was another part of his mind that yearned for his company, to see how he would react, to see how far these new feelings of his would stretch. Like an experiment. He know he could never ACT on his feelings, but where was the harm in FEELING them?

 _But why shouldn't I act on them?_ Castiel thought to himself. _Because you're awkward. Weird. Because you've never had a proper relationship before and wouldn't even know how to go about something like that. Because he's not gay, for God's sake! Because he wouldn't be interested in you even if he was. Because he's way too good for you._

_Oh. That's why._

His heart dropped in his chest as the thoughts ran through his brain a mile a minute. Of course someone like Dean would never be interested in someone like him. What was he even thinking, this whole thing was just ridiculous-

"CAS!"

The voice shattered Castiel's train of thought, and he jerked back into the real world. Cas? No one called him that. Except Dean...

He looked around, a little more eagerly than he would have liked to admit, but the only person he could see amongst the shelves was his co-worker. He sighed and asked her what was up.

"What is wrong with you? I've been trying to get your attention for ages.There's some guy hanging around up front asking for you." She said, her monotone voice letting him know she had no interest in talking to him. _It's alright_. He thought. _I didn't want to see you either._

"What guy?" Castiel asked, confusion slipping into his expression. As far as he knew, no one else in this town even knew his name, never mind cared enough to ask for him. Naomi shrugged

"Tall. Blondish. Attractive." He could almost hear her thinking, "Too attractive to be looking for you." She didn't say it though and after he nodded to her, she left.

_Tall, blondish, attractive?_ Surely it couldn't be? For one wild moment, he had thought that it had been Dean calling his name, but after being given a second to think about it, he'd realised how ridiculous this though was. Why would he be here in his place of work? He hadn't even told him where he worked. Had he? Deciding there was only one way to find out, Castiel made his way to the front of the store. 

And there he was. Hovering somewhat awkwardly amongst the weekly best sellers was Dean Winchester. He watched as Dean picked up a book, pretending to be interested in it, glanced at the back cover and shoved it back on the shelf without even giving himself long enough to read the blurb as he rolled his eyes. 

The sight of him standing there awoke the butterflies in Castiel's stomach, and he had to fight to keep the smile of his face as he moved towards him. He stopped a couple of metres away. 

"Hey. How's it hanging?" _How's it hanging?! Castiel, get it together, who even says that?!_ He felt the heat rising to his face, and he opened his mouth to apologise for being so strange, but Dean didn't seem to even notice. 

"Hey, Cas!" He grinned, and Castiel felt the heat settle in his chest. "I was just in the area and realised it must be almost closing time, and wondered if you'd want to... walk home. With me." 

Castiel wasn't sure he'd heard correctly. Why would Dean just pop in to walk him home? They weren't even friends. Besides which, he'd never even told him where he worked, how did he just know where to find him? Dean seemed to sense his suspicion. 

"You told me you worked in a book shop just outside the town centre. The only other one in town is that big chain store, I just figured if you worked there you would've just said the name." Castiel had to admit this checked out. It still didn't explain why he'd even turned up in the first place. He decided not to dig too deep into it. 

"Right, okay. Well, we close a little later than most other places, so I won't be able to get off for another thirty minutes. Sorry." 

Dean shook his head. "No, man, don't worry about it. There's no need to apologise. I can just hang here." He said, looking around. Castiel couldn't help but grin at Dean. He looked so out of place here; clearly he hadn't been lying when he said he didn't read. He was just about to excuse himself to continue with his work when Naomi popped up behind him. 

"Castiel, he can't just hang around here." She snapped. "You know the boss'll kick him out if he's just distracting you from your work, and we have stuff that needs to be done." 

"He isn't a distraction." Castiel retorted, spinning to face her. Once Dean was here, there was no way he was going to let her get rid of him again. "He's a paying customer. Right?" He glanced back over his shoulder at Dean, he looked a little taken aback at the idea of having to buy a book. 

"Uhh. Right. Yes." And he flashed a toothy grin at Naomi. She rolled her eyes and stalked away. 

"Sorry about-" Castiel began, but Dean cut him off. 

"Dude, stop apologising, it's okay." He smiled gently at him. Then a frown creased the space between his eyebrows as he looked around the shop. "But yeah, well, that's great and all, but I have no idea what I'm looking for in here." 

Castiel straightened up and put on his best helpful-shop-assistant voice. 

"That's no problem sir, it's my job to help you out with that." Dean turned to look down at him, and his eyebrows raised and his grin widened as though Castiel was being the cutest thing he'd ever seen. "What genre are you usually interested in?" 

Dean narrowed his eyes slightly, pursed his lips and tilted his head back as though he was thinking. He dropped his head back forward. "None." 

"Nothing? You don't have a favourite genre?" 

"Dude, I don't think I've ever finished a book in my life." 

"I see." Castiel nodded slowly. "Well then, in that case I'm afraid I don't think you're in the right place. I can't help you here." And with that, he turned on his heel and proceeded to walk away from Dean. He had no idea where this sudden playful boldness was coming from, but he was actually quite enjoying himself. 

Dean let out a soft laugh behind him, and jumped forward a step to reach out for Castiel to prevent him from getting too far away from him. His hand caught his wrist and he closed his fingers around it as he pulled Castiel gently back. The brush of Dean's rough skin caused Castiel to start, the hand around him feeling heavier than it's actual pressure would suggest. He could almost feel his skin burning from the fingers curved around it, sure he was going to be left with reddened skin once the contact was broken. 

He snapped his head up to look at Dean, sure his feelings would be plastered across his face. Dean however, seemed to be completely oblivious to what he was actually feeling, and had taken Castiel's sudden stiffness as a sign of discomfort. The smile fell from his face and his features morphed into an expression of concern as he dropped Castiel's arm. The loss of contact left Castiel with an entirely different kind of burn. Unconsciously, he raised his own hand to rub at his skin. 

"Oh. Sorry." Dean murmured, his eyes dropping to Castiel's hand. "I didn't mean to..." 

Castiel didn't know how to react. What was wrong with him? _Get it together!_ , he repeated to himself. _Seriously, why are you being so much weirder than usual?_

Dean cleared his throat nervously, and Castiel forced himself to look back up at him. "So, about that book...?" 

Castiel nodded. "Yes. Books, yes." He fought to keep his voice steady as he spoke, the odd confidence that had overcame him just moments before now draining from him. He glanced around the store, his mind working to decide on a sufficient introduction to reading for Dean. 

"Right, I've got it." He said, turning his back on Dean so he didn't have to fight to keep his face straight. He made his way to the back of the store where the classics section was kept, almost painfully aware of Dean following closely behind. When he reached the shelf, he searched for the book and pulled it of the rack before looking back at him. He held out the blue covered book for Dean. 

"The Catcher in the Rye?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. "Is this about a farm or something?" 

Castiel couldn't help but laugh. "What? No!" Dean looked up at him, doubt lacing his green eyes. 

"What's is about then?" 

Castiel shook his head. "I'm not telling!" He seemed to be finding that confidence again. 

"There's not even a... a THING on the back!" 

Castiel laughed again, louder this time. "That THING is a called a blurb. And you can't really describe The Catcher in the Rye that easily, you'll just have to read it." 

Dean smirked. "Oh, and I'm supposed to just take your word for it, am I?" 

"Look, all I'll say that it's like, a staple for teenage boys. You'll love it, I promise." 

It was Dean's turn to laugh now. "I didn't really have time for reading in school, if you get my drift." He said and winked suggestively at Castiel. 

The breath caught in Castiel's throat and he froze. _Girls. He means girls._ He opened his mouth without really knowing what he was going to say; he had so little experience in these areas that he never knew how to react when they were brought up in conversation. 

Thankfully, he was spared the necessity of saying anything when Naomi appeared by Dean's side. For once, Castiel was grateful to see her. 

"Jake said we may as well just go, we've been slow all day so it's unlikely anyone else will come in this late." She said shortly, then left again. Dean watched her leave, then turned back to Castiel. 

"Good. We can walk home together then, it's not too far from here."

Castiel smiled. "Yeah okay, I'll just go get my stuff then. And BUY THE BOOK." 

\--- 

They both kept their hands buried deep in their pockets on the walk home, protecting them from the bitter chill of the winter evening's air. Neither of them had said a word in the five minutes since they had left the shop, and Castiel was unable to tell if it was even an awkward silence or not. He worked to think of something intelligent to say. 

"Should've taken the bus." He muttered, his teeth chattering from the cold. Yes, of course. That should do it. To his surprise though, Dean gave a deep, hearty laugh. Castiel looked at him in surprise; he hadn't thought his comment was that funny. 

"I have a car we could've used." Dean said, glancing at him out of the corner of his eye. 

"Then would you mind telling me why the hell we're freezing our asses off out here?" 

Dean laughed again, harder this time, his breathe creating a cloud in the darkness, illuminated slightly by the lamppost they were passing under. "I had to leave it in the garage, something blew just as I was about to leave work. I should have sorted it right away actually, but it's been a long day and we've had a lot of work on, so I figured I can walk home just this once." 

A mechanic! That's what he did. At least that meant he didn't have to ask him about it. Castiel supposed it quite suited him. It was quite a masculine job, probably pretty dirty too. Castiel could imagine him working on a car, bent over to peer into the bonnet, sweat dripping from his oil streaked skin- 

_No! No, don't even go there!_ Castiel thought, and he felt the blood rush into his face. 

"CAS! Hey, you okay, man?" 

"What? Oh, yeah..." He replied, a little dazed. "Did you say something?" 

"I was just asking, if that girl always like that?" 

"Oh, Naomi? Nah, she's just..." Castiel trailed off, unable to finish the thought. Just what? Why was he lying? He didn't have to be polite about her. "Awful. She's awful." 

Dean laughed once more, peering at him from under thick, dark eyelashes. "Tell us what you really think, Cas!" 

Castiel blushed, opening his mouth to apologise, but Dean cut him off. 

"Don't you DARE say you're sorry. From what I saw there, she completely deserves it. Besides which, I was joking. It's actually nice to see you speaking your mind for once." 

"What do you mean?" 

"Just... you're pretty quiet, aren't you? And I just... I kinda get the feeling you don't put yourself out there very often like that." 

"Oh right, yeah." Castiel muttered, then carried on tentatively. "I mean... I just worry, yeah? Like, I always think, why should I say things like that, or anything at all?" He had no idea where this was coming from. Dean was right, he never opened up, but there was something about this man that made him feel safe, as though he wasn't being judged. He shrugged. "People don't need, or want, to know what's in my head, what I have to say..." 

Dean snapped his head around to stare at him. His eyebrows were pulled low over his eyes and his mouth was twisted slightly to the side. 

"What are you even talking about! You have every right to say what you're thinking, just like everyone else does!" His voiced was raised, as though he was personally offended by what Castiel had just declared. "Of course people want to hear what you have to say. I know I do, at least, or I wouldn't have came to find you at work, and I certainly wouldn't be walking home alone with you, would I?" 

Castiel's steps faltered as he almost stopped in his tracks. A warm sensation was spreading through his chest and he could feel his heart rate speed up. Dean had basically just admitted that he wanted to be around him, right? Not in the way Castiel wanted, obviously, but something had to be better than nothing, surely? 

Once again, he didn't know what to say. He smiled softly at Dean, and then the pair of them went back to strolling side by side as the silence once again fell over them. Neither of them were walking with much speed, as though they had nowhere else in the world they needed to be other than right there, even despite the cold. 

After a couple of minutes, the pair fell into an easy backwards-and-forwards of small talk. Dean asked Castiel about his favourite books (although Castiel suspected he was just being polite with this topic), and he in turn asked Dean about working at the garage. It turned out that Dean had been good with cars ever since he was young, having spent most of his youth working on cars in the family garage with his father. 

It wasn't until they reached a dark building only a couple of minutes from their apartment building that they stopped. The doors of the building were open, and a warm, orange glow was emanating from it. Christmas music was spilling out, the sound clouded slightly with the noise of laughter and loud, happy voices. 

"Have you ever been in here?" Dean asked, nodding his head in the direction of the pub behind him. 

Castiel shook his head. Who would he go with? And there was no way he'd ever go in there alone. 

"Oh, well we should go in sometime." Dean replied brightly. "It's great in there, everyone's always so friendly. And I think one of the barmaids has a bit of a thing for me." He winked conspiratorially down at Castiel, who managed to force a smile in return. Of course the barmaid would have a thing for him. Dean probably had one back for her. Castiel's heart begin to sink, and his smile became tight. 

Dean mistook his expression for discomfort. He smiled slightly. "But not tonight, I guess. You look like you need to get home out of the cold." And without another word he turned and began to walk in the direction of their home, tugging gently on Castiel's sleeve as he went. 

Castiel didn't even try to resist his lead. 

**Author's Note:**

> The next chapter will be up soon. It's better than this one, I promise :) I suck at titles, so I named this one after the song by Simon and Garfunkel.


End file.
